Return of the native

Date: January 26 2013

Australiana is casting off its kitsch image as designers find inspiration close to home, writes Megan Johnston.

For the past decade, the Sydney jeweller Tess Lloyd has scoured the globe for creative inspiration. Berries, peacocks and parachutes - classic iconography from Europe, Japan and the Middle East - adorn the distinctive wooden and stainless steel pendants, rings and brooches Lloyd crafts with her business partner, Maja Rose, for local label Polli.

Recently the pair looked for ideas closer to home. A rich source, they discovered, was not far from their own backyards. ''The wattle season last year was amazing,'' Lloyd says of her neighbourhood near Blackwattle Bay. ''There were these amazing soft explosions of yellow colour down by the water.''

The beauty of this native flower wasn't lost on consumers, either. Wattle design jewellery, launched in August, has proved one of the biggest sellers in Polli's Australiana collection, rivalling the brand's much-copied signature elm necklace.

Lloyd puts the design's popularity down to its contemporary look, with abstract, cartwheel linocut shapes that steer clear of the tired pom-pom motif. But it also reflects a wider trend, Lloyd says. At long last, Australiana has cast off its tacky, touristy connotations and, from kangaroos to cicadas, the appeal of antipodean images is

re-emerging.

Creative minds are finding new ways to use iconic Australian symbols. Designer Catherine Martin, known for her film work with Baz Luhrmann, has released luxury wallpapers with cockatoo and eucalyptus themes for Porter's Paints, as well as ornate cockatoo linen and furniture for US retail chain Anthropologie.

Meanwhile, a new generation is putting an ironic spin on once-daggy souvenirs and the eye-popping creations of Ken Done and Jenny Kee. ''High-kitsch'' cockatoo-base lamps are proving especially popular, Lloyd says.

''There is a resurgence of those things that a few years ago you would have said, 'I can't think of anything worse,''' she says.

Either way, the appeal comes back to the distinctive shapes of native flora and fauna, which allow Australian designers to make a mark in an oversaturated interiors market thirsting for original ideas.

''Everything [here] is so unique,'' Lloyd says.

One Sydney designer who has pursued the ''classic contemporary'' concept is Julie Paterson. The earthy tones and rugged textures produced by her textile studio Cloth Fabric reflect her experience of the Australian landscape since moving here from Britain many years ago. A ''faded brights'' range has a chalkiness reminiscent of faded outdoor signs, while her screen prints reveal her interest in the artwork of Margaret Preston.

''It's not just about Australiana as such, it's really embodying the whole experience … we all have here,'' Paterson says.

While she doesn't shy away from overtly Australian symbols, such as banksia or kangaroo paw, much of her work has a subtler sense of place.

She ''upcycles'' old furniture with new upholstery, for example, and hosts workshops that encourage people to be creative with found materials (see clothfabric.com).

Paterson also repaints old mass-produced souvenirs, such as bowls and other trinkets. ''There's something intriguing about taking that idea of the overlooked or kitsch and bringing it to a more contemporary angle,'' she says.

Nostalgia also has its place. In Melbourne, graphic designer and illustrator Eamon Donnelly recently launched an online archive of Australian imagery called the Island Continent (islandcontinent.com.au).

A child of the '80s, he uses the site to celebrate the kitschy and oversaturated, from old fluoro surfboards to vintage advertising stickers. His own work includes psychedelic illustrations based on beach culture and kaleidoscopic montages using images of native plants. He is also working on a coffee-table book about milk bars.

''I look back on that time as really colourful, really hot,'' Donnelly says. ''It was a time when Australia was defining itself … it's all encapsulated into that era of starting to tell our own stories and have our own representation and our own identity.''